Hope all is O.K. Yonnie, latest suggestion is “Dan The Man”: wants all volunteer fire fighters ( CFA ) to undergo medicals to make sure they are up to the task. Not the full time paid staff, just the volunteers. Cynically I suspect this is another way of getting rid of this troublesome body that just wants to serve their communities,

I wondered how you were faring Yonnie; hope all well. There is burning off going on around here, so we are getting amazing dawns with the smoke. Last year opportunities for burning off were missed, thanks to pandering to worries about Easter tourists not liking smoke.

The judges summary was much more devastating than would be expected in a world of equivocation. He absolutely rejected every argument by the administration given clause 14, Ridd’s promised freedom of speech in his Enterprise Agreement.

University business administrators across the country will be looking hard at how and why anyone was outrageously promised freedom of speech in this new money hungry world where science must take a back seat to income. Even socialists need other people’s cash and as Margaret Thatcher famously said, socialism is fine until they run out of other people’s money.

You have to ask now whether Morrison’s government will demand the return of Prime Minister Turnbull’s great $444,000,000 gift to his friends. This unsolicited personal gift was ostensibly to ‘save’ a reef which does not need saving. The recipient admitted she had no idea what to do with the money. Malcolm Turnbull was Prime Minister, not King of Australia and it was never his money to give. It was ours. Like the RET, that is Royal theft, the enrichment of friends of the powerful with money stolen from the people. All for a good cause? Not according to Peter Ridd.

14.1. JCU is committed to act in a manner consistent with the
protection and promotion of intellectual freedom within the
University and in accordance with JCU’s Code of Conduct.

14.2. Intellectual freedom includes the rights of staff to:
• Pursue critical and open inquiry;
• Participate in public debate and express opinions
about issues and ideas related to their respective
fields of competence;
• Express opinions about the operations of JCU and
higher education policy more generally;
• Be eligible to participate in established decision
making structures and processes within JCU,
subject to established selection procedures and
criteria;
• Participate in professional and representative
bodies, including unions and other representative
bodies.

14.3. All staff have the right to express unpopular or
controversial views. However, this comes with a responsibility
to respect the rights of others and they do not have the right to
harass, vilify, bully or intimidate those who disagree with their
views. These rights are linked to the responsibilities of staff to
support JCU as a place of independent learning and thought
where ideas may be put forward and opinion expressed freely.

14.4. JCU acknowledges the rights of staff to express
disagreement with University decisions and with the processes
used to make those decisions. Staff should seek to raise their
concerns through applicable processes and give reasonable
opportunity for such processes to be followed.

14.5. Staff, as leaders and role models to students and the wider
community, must adhere to the highest standards of propriety
Ridd v James Cook University [2019] FCCA 997 Reasons for Judgment: Page 6
and truthfulness in scholarship, research and professional
practice.

14.6. Staff members commenting publicly in a professional or
expert capacity may identify themselves using their University
appointment or qualifications, but must not represent their
opinions as those of JCU. The University expects that staff will
maintain professional standards when they intentionally
associate themselves with its name in public statements and/or
forums.

14.7. Staff who contribute to public debate as individuals and
not in a professional or expert capacity, must not intentionally
identify themselves in association with their University
appointment.

I think it is naive to think that the university is not going to make his life hell. He will be blacklisted by from every university he may seek to work at.
It may be a win for those coming after but unfortunately not for Peter Ridd.

My previous point. I warned him of this personally, but he has won and with such a strong win with so much criticism of the University administration, it was a 17:0 win.

I think he is tough enough to take it and might be a hero on the campus, not an outcast. The rest of the judgement contains emails from strong supporters and students and talk of another staff member already forced to leave. So there is a groundswell of popular support. For a quietly spoken man, he is as tough as steel and has now won domestic, international respect. He can find his own way in the world and his own funding, as every researcher has to do.

Mind you, those emails were harvested by the University as proof of his treachery. Not only was this a total invasion of privacy which will upset many university staff, the judge saw that at all times Peter behaved professionally and responsibly and without malice. Peter’s criticism of the egos of the powerful and their obvious attempt to shut down, shut up and dismiss Peter were with obvious and stated malice. This will not be lost on anyone who reads what is written in the Judge’s summary. Many should hang their heads in shame. Worse, they have been exposed for all time as the bullies and the villains. It was a savoury judgement of a very unsavoury bunch.

‘Coalition candidates are being urged to endorse a conservative manifesto that includes selling the ABC, slashing the company tax rate and pulling out of the Paris agreement on climate change.

‘The Institute of Public Affairs is also calling on Liberals and Nationals to repeal the ban on offensive speech in the Racial Discrimination Act and scrap the Fair Work Act including its provisions on the minimum wage.’

1.Remove all references to race in the Australian Constitution
2.Repeal Section 18C
3. Withdraw from the Paris Climate Agreement
4. Implement a flat personal income tax
5. Cut the corporate tax rate to 20%
6. Rotate the right to appoint judges to the High Court between each of the six states and the Commonwealth
7. Double the size of the House of Representatives and half the size of the Ministry
8. Privatise the ABC
9. Re-introduce the debt ceiling
10. Hold a Royal Commission into the Bureau of Meteorology’s manipulation of temperature data
11. Abolish compulsory superannuation
12. Abolish all subsides for renewable energy
13. Introduce a one-in, two-out rule for regulation to cut red tape
14. Repeal the Fair Work Act
15. Legalise nuclear power in Australia

You will run into the “not invented here” syndrome big time. Mainstream USA cannot envisage that other ways of doing things could be better and quite achievable , despite examples existing all over the world. If the alternative isnt perfect and free it will be rejected, despite being good enough and afforable.

Imagine that everyone else on Earth drops dead. Now play out the proposed right in that scenario. Life: no one there to take it away. Same for liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Health care: OK, you’ve inherited all the equipment, drugs, etc., but who’s going to run it, interpret the results, prescribe a safe treatment, and all the other things modern Health Care is?

In the long run, ‘Health Care is a right’, means the recipient has a right to someone else’s labor, either directly or indirectly through taxation. That makes the someone else a slave.

Respecting the primary Rights mostly requires doing exactly nothing.
I respect your Right to life by not killing you.
I respect your Right to Liberty by not restricting you.

Giving you food, shelter or healthcare that you haven’t earned is called “charity”. If I do these things, it is not because you deserve them – you deserve what you have earned – but because I am a good and generous person and/or am obedient to a higher moral code.

‘Taxation for such purposes is effectively forcing me to work without remuneration.’

Hmmm … we pay taxes for all sorts of purposes so that the public service will look after our interests. In Australia we have Medicare and the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme, its a cradle to grave model.

If you want it and it is a value for you, YOU should pay for it. If not, those who want without paying for it should be allowed to want until they can pay for it. They should not be allowed to pretend to pay for it with other people’s lives. Sadly, THAT is exactly what government has become: forcing the productive to pay for the wants of the non-productive at the point of a gun. This is NOT charity, it is theft pure and simple. A legal fiction does not make it right.

The most that should be demanded of me is that if I don’t help you when you are in need, I should not be allowed to call myself your friend. If you are a value to me and if you are in need, I will help you VOLUNTARILY to the extent you are a value to me ONLY if I can afford it. It is I who determines what I can afford and how much I will give. You have no say in the matter. If you think otherwise, GO SUCK ROCKS!

Thanks E G ! I am and will remain (after 72 years ) an Australian. I’ve lived and visited the US. It is a very different country. It just happens they speak a similar language. And in healthcare, we are simply better by far.

That is expressed most cogently by the percentage of GDP devoted to ‘health’. The US’s is far higher ( 14-15% ) with far less access to health care by low income earners..
But the health care practioners get a far better income. Ummmm ?

There is no such thing as a Right, without a concurrent responsibility. You don’t get away with using “American” as an ad hom on this subject and dodging the actual argument, that you have a responsibility to provide for you and yours. Nor do you have a right to force others to do for you what you haven’t done for yourself.

As for Gordo’s claim that paying taxes is effectively just paying the Public Service for something that we want done anyway, the test for that is to make taxes voluntary and see who keeps on paying them. He won’t accept that, because like all Socialists, he accepts coercion as legitimate.

We arent so different when it comes down to it , there is just a thin veneer of BS applied to make ourselves feel/look better in our own eyes. We are more passive and therefore more taxable, with a cultural belief that “the government” should do more for us.

In reality very few of us will do much of significance for our fellow humans if it means sacrificing our comfie lives. That especially applies to handwringers, virtue signallers and candle light vigilers who like to make a show and then retreat to their suburban lives. Doing something real and practical or giving anything beyond a # campaign isnt in mainstream thinking. How cynical they would say, look around I would say.

The US has a strong ethos of personal responsibility and living with the outcomes.

The US is highly fragmented and riddled with boundaries, jurisdictions and interfaces. Laws, norms and outcomes vary wildly between States, Counties, Cities and Towns. This impacts many aspects of US life but they seem to see it as a feature not a bug.

The whole society is pretty much dog eat dog. Many others are also but they dont try and pretend otherwise.

The US is a mixed economy but that says nothing about their willingness or ability to successfully implement a public health system. Also it takes just one Charlie Gard incident for people to say “see, is that what you really want?”

The US has a strong ethos of personal responsibility and living with the outcomes.

Until the financial manure hits the rotating blades. Then it all too big to fail, socialise the losses and for the love of doG privatise the profits!!!

Thats normal RW spiv practice here as well, but i dont think they get away with it quite as much. May get away with it less in the future as “inequality” as regards opportunity and wealth are now more upfront factors in the social and political discission.

According to your Bureau of Make-believe’s home page, Perth is going to be the least-hot and most-wet capital city today: oh my codfish, the climate is changing! No wait, of course, it’s the seasons that are changing… welcome to autumn [fall]. And thanks to runaway carbon [sic], yet another calm, sunny, pleasant day here across the ditch – is there nothing CO₂ can’t do?

At the top(pish) right, there’s a locator where you can enter your town or postcode for your area.

Also, they have a pretty good colour synoptic group of charts in the centre there.

I just use it for the information I’m specifically chasing, and I access it around 7.15 every morning prior to my morning walk for the temp on leaving and then again when arriving back home, and usually there’s a one to two degree change during that early 30 to 40 minutes around that time.

Heard La Presidénté Jacinda Ardern on the radio today say her coalition government will not be introducing a CGT. Is that anything like a CAO? Or AGW? Or CCC? OMG… WTF! Does the un-United Nations ever celebrate an Acronym-Free Day? No doubt they’d label it AFD because, like, I mean, y’know, they’re always thinking about the children…

I believe that Perth’s summers have changed for at least the last two, if not three, summers. Mostly gone are the searing hot easterly morning breezes, blowing in from the centre of Australia, to be replaced by cooler, more humid air up from the south. I believe that Perth must now switch away from using evaporative coolers to reverse cycle air cons, and I think this is happening. I am surprised with the recent cold change, because the waters off Perth have gradually gone from cooler to warmer, which normally means a warm winter to come. So do water temps follow land temp changes, or the other way around?

Anecdotal EG. I’m certainly no scientist, just a hard-core sceptic who questions everything – used to save a lot of dollars in business. But I believe that the last two Perth winters have been warmer than usual, with temps never dropping to zero as quite often happened in winter. And yes, the sea temps off Perth have risen noticeably recently – that I do monitor regularly.

Cheers, el gordo, saved Erl’s write-up to peruse fully later – had a quick read and thought, yes! The year nineteen eighty-four saw me living in Margaret River (don’t think it had anything to do with George Orwell’s novel of the same name: I was a 23-year-old working / surfing my way round Oz on the way to Indonesia and hey, the waves were perfect, the women more so… then again, maybe I knew it would be a great place, just in case, I did have to hunker-down).

The winter of 1984 was brutal – howling cold SWers and sheet rain, wet soggy miserable grey cold, fireplace cranked-up, layers of clothes, socks even (I’d been luxuriating in QLD for the few previous years) and the waves were perfect! And grunty. And cold. Then summer arrived – oh joy! Then another winter… As Happ writes: “So, in terms of maximum temperatures, in Margaret River, in either summer or winter, there is simply nothing to be concerned about. Summer is not warming. Winter is warming and that’s good [oh yes that's good!]“.

After numerous roadies up north, into the desert, down south (brrr!) and surviving them all, I finally boarded a plane to Bali and beyond and oh, the waves were perfect! The women more so…

Thanks for Erl’s data EG. Very interesting. In past years when we went down south to Margaret River, after summer most farm dams were either empty or nearly so. Now all you see down there are lush green fields, even at summer’s end, and full to overflowing farm dams everywhere. It was funny last year when we had a cold, wet and miserable spring in Perth and everybody was complaining, but nobody asked what happened to global warming. The next few years are going to be very interesting.

Agree, but along with the obvious change in summers now experienced in Perth, with increased cloud cover, it will be interesting to observe what happens over the next few years. Of course the BOM never comments on an “isolated case” of Perth being different from what’s happening elsewhere in Aust.

And as for the over-hyped, long-prophesied, long-awaited El Niño death spiral of a (slightly) warmer Pacific Ocean – nyet! – more like an El Nono or a La Nada. That old devil’s molecule CO₂ seems to have lost its oompa-loompa-mojo: maybe that bright yellow ball in the sky does have some sort of effect on us mere mortals down here on the physical plane (which as we know, unlike ER Activists®, is carbon-based).

Just a word on media conditioning (from a confessed conspiracy theorist who thinks the term “conspiracy theorist” is a conspiracy).

I won’t recommend that people go to news.com.au today or warn anyone off. I’ll just make some observations about what’s headlining there right now or till very recently today. (Probably changed by the time I post.)

There is the expected main story (Notre Dame today) and the usual disguised ads and TV promos (it’s a free site so why care?).

But headlining on the left of the site are three stories (two possibly doubling up as promos for TV shows I know nothing about). One is about two women kissing. Below that is a story about women getting engaged. Below that is a story about “a group of women in an erotic entanglement” in a public place.

Conditioned yet?

Over on the right (right, get it?) we have two scandals. One concerns a rugby player who has spoken out against such things as are described on the left side of the page. The other scandal is about a political figure who has said something which may be construed as negative about such things as described on the left side of the page.

This is just one glance at one news web site in the last hour. My count is five social conditioning/normalisation exercises posing as news at the top of the “news”.

On the other hand the Kudelka cartoon in The Australian shows Notre Dame burning with an onlooker saying “well, we can’t pin this one on climate change” and another saying “And the owners aren’t too keen on Act of God either”.

While on social conditioning I see that British Rugby has warned one of their top players about being a christian, or at least talking about his beliefs. As James Watt (may have) said when he unveiled his invention the safety valve “without such the pressure builds up until the boiler bursts under the strain”.

The only protected religious beliefs in the UK now are those which are non-christian….. If anyone other than a christian had supported Falau as a fellow rugby player then to criticise them would be to criticise their religion … and that’s Not allowed.

I’d agree, of course as a Christian I’d be accused of bias ( ah…yes…) but then the MSM appears to relentlessly push the Leftist anti-God agenda very loudly.

What people don’t see ( and this is my point of view, only ) is that from a Christian perspective, Christians openly understand and acknowledge the role of a Devil/Lucifer/Satan and his evil helper sidekicks – demons/djinn/evil spirits. In fact the Bible is very clear that Jesus was happy to short circuit demonic activity.

As such, if you look at the meteoric apparent planned promotion in the MSM of “tolerance” for everything but Christianity, its very clear which agenda its being pushed, and quite simply it appears to be quite dark.

There it is.

So when you see evil forging ahead, and those who care about morals and evil being attacked and sidelined, its instructive to consider what might be driving it.

Who’d trust Big Pharma? On that basis alone our daughter declined the free immunization and over the subsequent years there has been no evidence to indicate her decision was imprudent but a host of stories tending to confirm the rectitude of her decision.

I’ve been anti-vax all my life, but I rarely mention it. But I do look into the various articles that people post up at various times, and done my own research. I’ve seen many hints over the years that there is a huge scandal hidden beneath the covers. But it can’t be talked about because any mention of vaccination instantly get shouted down. The vitriol, abuse and strong one-sidedness leads me to believe there is something big behind it.

When we lived overseas we had a Romanian acquaintance who was convinced there was something very suspicious about Australia. We have never had much in the way of internal conflict, dont kill ourselves in great numbers and you dont hear much about us on the world news. Really , really dubious in his mind, there had to be something going on. In the end you make your own reality.

My mother nursed at Little Bromwich fever hospital early in the war…she saw what happened to children with diptheria. She was sometimes alone on the ward and if more than one little child had a crisis at the same time, one died…as simple as that. She was very pro-vaccination/immunisation as a result.
I remember seeing children with leg irons as a result of polio. I also remember the rejoicing at the elimination of smallpox, thanks to vaccination programmes using vaccines based on cowpox virus. Vaccination/vaccines are named for that derivation from cowpox, (‘vacca’ meaning ‘cow’).

:
The robustness of Capitalism can survive its mishandling by politicians.
What it cannot survive, is systematic undermining of its foundations.
Its foundations?
Reality, Reason, Individuality.
:
INEVITABLE GRADUALNESS
Not measured in hours, but decades, the land succumbs to the rising tide of Fabian-ism.
This steadfast flood never ebbs until reason has been made rotten by is saturation.
:Bob Hawke’s Infamous SpeechGillard ‘People’s Forum’

Founded during the late 1800s in England the socialist Fabian Society, and later the Australian Fabian Society was created and all or most Labor MPs are members.

Young student union activist Julia Gillard was a foundation member of the Socialist Forum which was later merged into the Australian Fabian Society before she was appointed Deputy to Opposition Leader Rudd, a Christian Socialist as is former UK PM Blair.

16 Apr: Daily Mail: ‘Why can’t you answer the question?’ Fiery moment Bill Shorten gets into a slanging match with journalist over Labor’s plans to fight climate change
•Lea asked Mr Shorten repeatedly to expand on policy and impact to economy
•During tense exchange, Mr Shorten refused to answer questions from Lea
by Ben Hill
Mr Shorten was speaking to reporters in Bedford Park, South Australia on Tuesday when Channel 10 journalist Jonathan Lea asked him about the plan to cut greenhouse gas emissions.
‘When can voters expect to learn more about Labor’s emission reduction target, how you’re going to get there and the cost to the economy?’ Lea asked.
Lea said Mr Shorten’s reply to Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s budget was ‘focused exclusively on health’, a claim Mr Shorten took exception to…

VIDEO: 2min06sec
‘You’re not answering the question Mr Shorten,’ Lea said.
‘Oh OK… I’m going to give someone else a go,’ Mr Shorten said in response, pointing to another reporter.
‘Answer the question, when can people know?’ Lea asked.
‘When can people know, the cost to the economy? You didn’t answer the question.
‘You should answer the question, that’s why we’re here to ask questions and you’re not answering the question. When can people expect to know, Mr Shorten, the cost to the economy?

‘Why can’t you answer the question Mr Shorten?’
Mr Shorten refused to answer, and said he wanted to take questions from other reporters.
‘Cos I’m going to give your colleagues half a go,’ Mr Shorten said in reply to Lea asking why he couldn’t give an answer to the query about the cost of the emission reduction target.
Lea later tweeted about the fiery encounter with Mr Shorten.
‘Five times I asked Bill Shorten what the cost of his emissions reduction target would be to the economy? And when Australia would know,’ Lea said.
‘Five times he refused to even try to answer. Frustrating.’https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6926697/Fiery-moment-Bill-Shorten-gets-slanging-match-journalist-Labors-climate-change-plan.html

ABC news bulletin early this morning had campaign items for Labor and Greens only. said Shorten would be in WA with his 5th health campaign pledge in as many days.

Greens Sarah Hanson Young would be stressing how the Greens would be pushing Labor to the left on CAGW if they win govt.

In his TV advert he says that he will “invest” in renewables to lower energy costs. That is either misguided or a lie and has happened nowhere on the planet. Perhaps like socialism , those other countries and Sth Australia just didnt get it right, but Bill will. Thats all from Fantasyland , next we will have something from Tommorrowland.

5 weeks!? They often can’t get the overnight minimum right, and have been wrong by as much as 5 degrees. And it’s rare for any rain forecast for a week out to eventuate, usually evaporating within the forecast period.
Cheers,
Dave B

Indeed, 5 days on average is the generally accepted figure, but it can be 5 hours or less. But it is not too many variables, it is nonlinear dynamics, also called chaos. Very simple systems can be chaotic, as all it takes is a single nonlinear negative feedback of proper size, which weather has. Lorenz discovered the chaotic nature of weather back in the 1960s, using just 3 simple equations. Chaotic changes are intrinsically unpredictable. But there is no money in that so they talk about complexity in order to justify bigger, more expensive computers, which cannot help. (I used to lecture on chaos at the Naval Research Lab.)

AUDIO: 2min58sec: ABC AM: Greens put pressure on Labor with new climate plan
By Alexandra Beech on AM
The Greens are launching the last significant plank of their election climate policy today.
It details how they would like money raised by a proposed carbon tax to be spent.
But it’s also a not-so-subtle message for Bill Shorten that if Labor wins power, the Greens will be there to try to drag them to the left.
???Broadcast: Wed 8 May 2019, 8:20am
Featured:
Sarah Hanson-Young, Greens environment spokeswoman
Scott Morrison, Prime Minister
Jonathan Symons, Macquarie University politics lecturer
Tony Wood, Grattan Institute energy program directorhttps://www.abc.net.au/radio/adelaide/programs/am/greens-put-pressure-on-labor-with-new-climate-plan/11023448

17 Apr: ABC: Greens bank on Labor’s win but party hopes to exploit shortfall to push climate action policies
AM By political reporter Alexandra Beech
Posted about 6 hours ago
The Greens are putting Bill Shorten on notice that if he wins the federal election, they will be there to drag Labor to the left…
Video: Greens leader Richard Di Natale calls for a phasing-out of coal in his election pitch.

Greens strategists believe Bill Shorten’s team is on track to win a majority in the Lower House, but that Labor still will not be able to control the Senate.
The party is planning to exploit that, with Wednesday’s announcement laying down markers for any future negotiations with a potential Shorten government.
“If Labor were to win on May 18, the Greens are putting up very clearly that climate action and protecting our environment are going to be key priorities,” Senator Hanson-Young said.
“The voters want this, and we’re going to be pushing for it.”https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-04-17/greens-promise-to-push-labor-government-to-the-left/11022878

ABC RN BREAKFAST PROGRAM 17 April 2019
Michelle Landry doesn’t know how much Adani has contributed to her campaign
“I don’t control the finances of my campaign so that certainly doesn’t sway me.”
(from summary: The Adani coal mine is set to become an election lightning rod with a convoy of environmental protesters setting out today for the Galilee Basin.
The Stop Adani convoy, being led by former Greens Leader Bob Brown, is embarking on a 5000 kilometre journey from Hobart to central Queensland for what it says will be a “public showdown with the coal mining industry”.)

GetUp ‘unashamedly targeting hard right faction of coalition’
“We have more individual supporters than they have members… while the major parties have been in steady decline, GetUp! has increased its support exponentially.”
(from summary: Activist group GetUp! is deploying 7,000 volunteers to target up to a million voters in key Coalition seats, like Tony Abbott in Warringah and Peter Dutton in Dickson.
The group says it wants to break the influence of what it calls “the hard right” in Australian politics.
Guest: Peter Oosting, National Director, GetUp!)

Bob Brown to lead anti-Adani convoy as government ‘stokes more coals’
“It’s going to remind voters, on May 18 they have a choice, either they vote for Adani or they vote against it. They vote for a future which is safe, or they vote for all the problems… which come out of global warming.”…
(from summary: More than 60 vehicles will take part in the three week, 5000 kilometre journey.
The beginning of the “Stop Adani” convoy coincides with reports Labor’s chances of picking up seats in Queensland are being damaged by the party’s mixed messages about the mine.
Guest: Bob Brown, former Greens Leader; Organiser, Stop Adani convoy)

Action on climate change big concern for young Australians, UNICEF says
The findings are explored in a new report by UNICEF Australia, which also found young Australians showed “high levels” of distrust in politicians and the media.
(from summary: The findings are explored in a new report by UNICEF Australia, which commissioned a survey of over 1,000 people aged between 14 and 17 and also did one-on-one interviews with young people around the country.
In its final report, UNICEF says the vast majority of those surveyed are “frustrated” by inaction on climate change, and that young Australians showed “high levels” of distrust in politicians and the media.
Guest: John Brittain, UNICEF Australia Young Ambassador
Amy Lamoin, Director of Policy and Advocacy, UNICEF Australia)https://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/breakfast/

as soon as Fran Kelly begins her interview re UNICEF survey, she admits she said it involved children 14-17, but says it was 3-22, “is that right?” of course, ABC kept 14-17 in its summary, thereby not showing how exploitative of the very young it really was.

immediately after Breakfast on RN, UNICEF’s Amy Lamoin was on ABC Brisbane for an extended interview on the same “survey” with the ABC presenter suggesting school children on holiday phone in following the segment. amusingly, those I heard who called in were off to a Ninja competition, a 3-day fencing course and an art course. none mentioned being concerned about CAGW.

forgot to add that following the UNICEF segment on ABC Breakfast, there was one of those annoying, self-praising ABC promos, featuring Patricia Karvelas, saying it was great to work for the ABC because it was accurate, impartial, fair and balanced.

2 pages listing what will surely be just some of ABC’s participation at the Festival, which almost entirely features writers from the left. of course, huge amounts of this garbage will be broadcast on ABC, in many and various ways.

AUDIO: 5min18sec: 17 Apr: 2GB: Alan Jones: Uni professor sacked for questioning global warming has been vindicated
A university professor who was sacked for questioning global warming’s impact on the Great Barrier Reef has been vindicated by the Federal Court.
Judge Salvatore Vasta ruled James Cook University acted unlawfully when it sacked Professor Peter Ridd in 2017.
In his verdict, Judge Vasta found that all 17 findings used by the university to justify the sacking were unlawful.
Alan Jones has been supporting the professor ever since, slamming the university for shutting down debate and free thinking.

17 Apr: ABC: Vote Compass finds voters are split on economy and environment as most important issue
By Catherine Hanrahan
Labor and Greens voters regard the environment as their number one concern, whereas Coalition voters nominate the economy as the single most important issue to them, according to the first results from the ABC’s Vote Compass survey…
The environment is rated as the number one issue by 29 per cent of Vote Compass respondents, a massive shift from just 9 per cent in 2016.
It is closely followed by the economy, which includes government spending and taxation, on 23 per cent…

Crucially, the environment is nominated as the top concern among undecided voters — 30 per cent of them say it is the most important issue, as opposed to 19 per cent who nominate the economy…

Andrea Carson, a political scientist from La Trobe University and a member of the Vote Compass academic panel, said the environment was a potential “wedge issue” for the Coalition…
Based on 119,516 respondents to Vote Compass between April 10 and April 14, 2019. Get the data (LINK)…

ABC election analyst Antony Green said it was “surprising” that the issue of the environment was showing up as more of a concern than health and education among Labor voters, but that the party’s focus on the latter issues might be designed to attract uncommitted voters, such as older voters and younger voters with children…

2016: Crikey: Vote Compass complete bunkum
The ABC’s Vote Compass is self-selected polling, and therefore meaningless. But the outlet continues to pretend its unscientific poll is news.
Vote Compass results often lead ABC news bulletins, and the national broadcaster makes much of its online poll results…https://www.crikey.com.au/2016/06/06/crikey-says-186/

check the comments:

2016: ABC: Why the Vote Compass methodology holds up
The Drum By Clifton van der Linden
(Clifton van der Linden is the director of Vox Pop Labs and the creator of Vote Compass)
To call the findings derived from Vote Compass data “unscientific” just reveals a fundamental lack of understanding as to the science behind public opinion research, writes Clifton van der Linden.
After naming ABC’s Vote Compass the innovation of the year in 2013, citing its “fascinating and useful pool of data”, Crikey made a rather stunning about-face recently when it referred to the Vote Compass data as “bunkum”…https://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-06-10/van-der-linden-why-the-vote-compass-methodology-holds-up/7498692

G’day Pat,
I find it interesting that, as far as I’ve seen anyway, the ABC has advertised this as a guide for individuals to see how their ideas match the parties’, not as an opinion poll for the ABC to use for political advertising. Hence their “sampling” is skewed to ABC viewers who are undecided about their own ideas. Far from random.
Cheers
Dave B

what could be more informative than having ABC explain the GND to you?

headline on ABC’s “Just In” page:

Some say the Green New Deal will destroy hamburgers and end air travel. Let’s take a look
Explainer By Emily Olson and Peter Marsh

actual headline:

17 Apr: ABC: Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s controversial Green New Deal is America’s most ambitious — and criticised — climate policy to date
By Emily Olson and Peter Marsh
Mark Jacobson, a professor of Environmental Engineering at Stanford University, says the GND is one of the first technologically feasible proposals surfaced at the federal level of government.
“These are technologies that actually work. We scouted them out 10 years ago. We need to focus on what actually works and keep our eyes on the ball,” he said.

One sticking point is how the US would pay for such massive changes, with the cost of implementing the deal at $US7 trillion ($9.8 trillion).
Mr Kaufman said the debate often draws comparisons to military spending.
“We don’t have those same types of budget issues when it’s other issues of national security,” he said.
“It becomes a question of how can you afford not to do something like the GND when the cost projections of unmitigated global warming soar into the high high trillions — to say nothing of the incalculable costs of individual human lives. Look at Puerto Rico and the thousands of people who died [because of Hurricane Maria].”…

We will not know for sure how the GND will be funded until it is out of this resolution phase and into a more concrete bill format.
That could be a while. Or never.

Who’s behind it?
AOC has been helped by groups such as the Sunrise Movement, a youth-led activist group that has loudly advocated for the GND…
A recent Gallup poll suggests that younger Americans worry the most about climate change…
“We know in our bones that this is an urgent crisis. If we don’t address this now — and now means now, not in 10 years — we could potentially have an uninhabitable planet,” said Garrett Blad, a spokesperson for the Sunrise Movement…

A November poll from Yale University found that although 82 per cent of American voters had never heard of the Green New Deal, an overwhelming majority (81 per cent) supported its policies.
That includes 64 per cent of Republicans and 57 per cent of conservative republicans…

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell forced a vote on the GND in the US Senate on March 27.
All Senate Republicans voted against the deal. Four Senate Democrats voted against it; the rest voted “present” instead of voting for or against it, saying that the early vote was a “sham” designed to divide the Democratic Party and catch those 2020 contenders voting against their stated priorities…

(Joseph Majkut, director of climate policy at the Niskanen Center) said the policy had political traction and created space to talk about how the US should be dealing with climate change.
“The entry of the Green New Deal, just as a rhetorically powerful item, has it’s(sic) really amped up the level of attention that climate is getting in American politics,” he said.https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-04-17/explainer-green-new-deal/10961626

17 Apr: ABC: BOM predicts ‘quite unusual’ Easter weather for Sydney, NSW
By Jessica Kidd
Jane Golding from the Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) said most of NSW would enjoy warmer than average temperatures.
“We’re looking at daytime temperatures a couple of degrees above average along the coast … so getting into the mid-twenties,” she said.
“As you head west into western NSW, particularly down along the Victorian and South Australian borders, temperatures … five or more degrees above average.
“Places like Griffith and Wagga will see temperatures up towards 30 degrees, so that’s quite unusual for this time of year.”…
The BOM expects the warmer weather to continue until May.https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-04-17/bom-predicts-sydney-easter-weather-to-be-warm-and-sunny/11024084

On WUWT a paper is quoted saying that the limit of forecasting weather is about 2 weeks.
“Reliable forecasts are now possible nine to 10 days out for daily weather in the mid-latitudes, where most of Earth’s population lives. New technology could add another four to five days over the coming decades, according to research published online in the Journal of the Atmospheric Sciences.”
Wonder what BoM’s response will be about their forecasts into May?

It’s not time that matters it’s how precise the area you are predicting for. It can rain on my house but not on the one at the end of the street.

Townsville has had two deluges in recent years, one in ’98 “the night of Noah” where a low press. parked over Rollingstone, 50 K north AND SAT THERE.It was a very normal low which would have been predicted to rain on the town and move on. It didn’t happen that way.The most recent one was a massive trough that would have rung alarm bells but BOM, again, was caught by the lack of movement.

I see your met service is similar – OK, from the exact same mold – as ours: “Unusual unprecedented catastrophic hot spell!” means a nor-west warm front riding ahead of a bitterly cold snowy southerly buster… except they never mention the buster, nor the cold, nor the snow. “Caught by surprise!” is the standard press release the day after, caused by – what else! – cAGW/CCC/CO₂ emission bogeyman changey thingy whatsit.

Breaking news: was going to copy/paste our MetService’s disclaimer, ie. ‘This service is based on data and products of the UK Met Office’ except, it’s just been progressed / modernised / memory holed sustainable-ised into: “This service is based on data and products of the US National Centers for Environmental Prediction”. What – another coup d’état? Too many takeovers…

16 Apr: ClimateChangeNews: Leading climate lawyer arrested after gluing herself to Shell headquarters
Breaking the law has become more important than making the law, said Farhana Yamin, who charged through a police cordon outside the oil company on Tuesday.
By Karl Mathiesen
After decades working inside the law, international climate lawyer and diplomat Farhana Yamin charged through a police line, dived under the arms of an officer and superglued her hands to the pavement outside the London headquarters of oil company Shell.
Her action, which took place on Tuesday, was part of a rolling set of protests taking place across London and the world under the Extinction Rebellion banner. She later joined a growing tally of activists to be arrested.

Yamin is a legal expert who has advised various developing countries in climate negotiations and is an associate fellow at ***Chatham House…

By Tuesday evening 209 people had been arrested, the Metropolitan Police said, 500,000 commuters had been impacted by the closure of bus routes…
According to Extinction Rebellion, there will be protests and actions in 80 cities across 33 countries in the coming days. In London, the group plans to escalate its actions beyond the current traffic chaos to include the city’s underground on Wednesday…
Mayor of London Sadiq Khan issued a statement that said he was “extremely concerned”.

“It is absolutely crucial to get more people using public transport, as well as walking and cycling, if we are to tackle this climate emergency – and millions of Londoners depend on the underground network to get about their daily lives in our city. Targeting public transport in this way would only damage the cause of all of us who want to tackle climate change, as well as risking Londoners’ safety, and I’d implore anyone considering doing so to think again,” he said…https://www.climatechangenews.com/2019/04/16/leading-climate-lawyer-arrested-gluing-shell-headquarters/

17 Apr: ABC: Animal activists charged over protests at Yangan abattoir and Millmerran feedlot
By Michael Rennie
Detectives have charged 11 animal rights activists from across South-East Queensland with trespassing, after protests at a Yangan abattoir in April, and at a Millmerran cattle feedlot last month.
Detective Superintendent Jon Wacker said the charges followed formal complaints from the owners of the properties…https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-04-17/animal-activists-charged-over-millmerran-yangan-protest/11023422

16 Apr: CarbonPulse: Alberta oil sands leading Canada’s emissions further off track from Paris target -data
Canada’s economy-wide emissions rose in 2017 on the back of higher output in Alberta’s oil and gas sector, leading the country further away from hitting its GHG target under the UN Paris Agreement, according to government data released Monday.

16 Apr: CarbonPulse: Ontario emissions declined during first year of now-defunct ETS, data shows
All three of Ontario’s largest emitting sectors saw their GHG output drop during the first year of the Canadian province’s now-cancelled cap-and-trade programme, according to government data.

16 Apr: CarbonPulse: ‘Unrelenting and unhedgeable’: the EU’s largest emitter on Brexit’s carbon trading risks
The risks presented by Brexit to the largest emitting company in the EU ETS are unrelenting and unhedgeable, according to RWE Supply and Trading’s head of regulatory affairs.

16 Apr: CarbonPulse: Microsoft doubles internal CO2 price, joins conservative climate group
US tech giant Microsoft announced Tuesday that it will nearly double its internal carbon price to further its GHG reduction goals, while also joining a Republican-backed organisation advocating for a nationwide CO2 tax.

16 Apr: CarbonPulse: Nations seek to shift gears on UN Article 6 carbon market talks
Governments are looking to change their approach on agreeing to a global rulebook for carbon markets in an effort to avoid a repeat failure that almost crashed the UN climate talks last year.

Perchance it had hitched a ride with one of those majick pixie unicorns that occasionally go for a drive (in a 97% Consensus EV of course) on the M87 galactic highway around the Black Stump Hole and back again and… ooh look, I’m back! Tricked ya!

If you want to have power connected to an existing block, one that does not already have the infrastructure, you have to pay for it. In the area covered by Essential Energy (90% of NSW) this equates to around 10 grand a pole. For this you get all the bits necessary, including a transformer, the cables, the changes to the network required to accommodate the increased load, and maintenance, upgrades etc in perpetuity. Typically, if you can share this with a neighbour, the cost will be halved. So a 4 pole installation will cost you 40,000 and then you pay whatever rate you select for what you use.

If you go to an off grid solution you get some panels, a battery and an inverter. Maintenance, upgrades, repairs for storm damage are all down to you. So you pay 40,000 (as an example), but the electricity is free.

Yep, it’s the total cost over time for 24/7 supply which makes a grid connection the best option in the scenario described by Kinky. Apparently, from Essential Energies point of view, the solar/battery option would be cheaper for them to install and maintain, but are forbidden by legislation to implement such a solution for say a sheering shed.

Only $40k to go off-grid Petrr? Love to see the calculations behind that figure. Rick W figured that going off- grid was a much higher cost, and Rick provided the figures and data behind his assertion. Afraid that I rather believe Rick’s figure.

If you arent technical and arent wedded to the idea of going off grid, than the grid is a superior option. You wont get a decent off grid system for $40 retail, if you objective is to have a grid equivalent life style where you just use energy without thinking about it.

It depends on how willing you are to sacrifice convenience and standard of living and your ideological stance re diesel backup. If you don’t object to diesel and content to manage usage carefully 40-50 grand sounds doable.

If you have a modern family of four or more in a comfortable house – forget it.

16 Apr: HeraldScotland: Scots wind farm portfolio sold for £50m to pension funds firm
By Brian Donnelly
VENTURE capital firm Scottish Equity Partners has sold its onshore wind farm portfolio to the Pensions Infrastructure Platform for £50 million.
Made up of 64 turbines in locations across the UK and Ireland, the portfolio contains all five of the wind farm investments made by the Environmental Capital Fund (ECF), a specialist infrastructure fund managed by SEP.
It ranges from single-turbine sites across the Orkney and Shetland Islands to utility-scale turbines in Curraghderrig, Ireland and the Port of Tilbury in London.

Well, there are only 3 wind turbines in Shetland, and the locals have decided that their output should go direct to heating water in big tanks.
Not that the turbines are inefficient, quite the reverse (Shetland in a very windy place) and their output is near 48% of capacity. Shetland is about the latitude of Bergen in Norway and has an annual temperature to match (heating required every month of the year). A large reserve of hot water acts as storage, and it doesn’t really matter if the circulating water (to the district) is 50℃ or 70℃.
Orkney when I was last there (2013) wasn’t that enthusiastic about wind turbines, with claims that their benefits had been overstated.

16 Apr: BigNewsNetwork: News24: Watson Eastern Cape wind farm stopped – for now
The controversial decision to grant environmental authorisation for the Watson family’s massive wind farm project on the summit of the Groot Winterhoek mountains near Uitenhage has been overturned – at least temporarily, GroundUp reported.
On Monday, acting environmental affairs minister Lindiwe Zulu upheld five appeals against the 187.2MW, 47-turbine Inyanda-Roodeplaat wind farm. She sent the decision back to her department for further consultation and re-evaluation – but this time with the help of independent review specialists…

Feathers fly over Watson wind farm plan
According to recent testimony at the Zondo commission of inquiry into state capture, Mokonyane was deeply involved in a corrupt relationship with the Bosasa group of companies, headed by Gavin Watson.
There were concerns that this had created an unacceptable conflict of interest for her as she was the appeal authority in the family’s wind farm application. The developer of the wind farm is lnyanda Energy Projects (Pty) Ltd, which has four members of the Watson family as directors ETC…

There were five sets of appeals against this approval: From the Wilderness Foundation Africa; bird conservation group BirdLife South Africa; Eastern Cape environmental scientist and bird specialist Dr Paul Martin; Professor Gavin McLachlan, a Port Elizabeth architect and regional planner who has hiked in the Groot Winterhoek for the past 50 years; and Dr Werner Illenberger, a Port Elizabeth-based environmental consultant specialising in coastal issues…

16 Apr: MailTimes: Murra Warra Wind Farm impacts far-reaching following Senvion administration
by Erin Witmitz & Jade Bate
THE impacts of Senvion’s administration on the Murra Warra Wind Farm are still not entirely known.
Senvion is the Murra Warra Wind Farm’s turbine supplier and installer. The German-based company filed for self-administration proceedings last week.
A Murra Warra Wind Farm spokesperson told the Mail-Times last week that the project would continue as normal.

Sections of Murra Warra farmer David Jochinke’s property have been used for the farm.
“Landowners were sent a very brief email last week that didn’t have much detail about what was happening,” he said.
“We started getting payments for business disruption as soon as we signed a contract. Since the Senvion drama last week, no payments have been due.”

Part of Wallup farmer Simon Tickner’s property has also been used for the farm. He said Senvion’s administration wasn’t news for landholders.
“It might be news for the general public, but it’s not news to us. I’ve been through the site (Tuesday) morning and there was still Senvion parts arriving,” he said.
CEC Hopper and Sons has about 25 workers at the site. Managing director Tim Hopper said the Senvion administration hadn’t affected his workers…

Harcourts Horsham principal Mark Clyne said wind farm workers had dominated the region’s rental market…
A total of 116 turbines will make up the Murra Warra Wind Farm, with the first installed in January. The farm is expected to power 220,000 homes and reduce 900,000 tonnes of greenhouse gases annually.
The Mail-Times contacted ***RES Group for comment but didn’t receive a response before deadline.
The Mail-Times also contacted Business Horsham. A spokesperson said Business Horsham “would prefer not to comment on the matter.”https://www.mailtimes.com.au/story/6055601/murra-warra-wind-farm-impacts-far-reaching-following-senvion-administration/

as it’s not explained in the article, Murra Warra Wind Farm is being developed by RES Group:

***The RES Group (Renewable Energy Systems) (HQ England) is a global renewable energy company which has been active in the renewable energy industry for over 30 years…The RES Group has now developed and/or constructed over 100 wind farms worldwide, with more than 12 GW of capacity. In addition, it has projects on its books totaling several thousand megawatts worldwide, at various stages of development – Wikipedia

16 Apr: Shetland News: Campaigners call for halt on wind farms
CAMPAIGN group Sustainable Shetland has called on councillors to impose a moratorium on all local wind farm developments and instead explore finding the “best environmentally sustainable” energy solutions in the isles.
Chairman Frank Hay made the call after Shetland Islands Council’s planning committee gave the green light to Peel Energy’s 12-turbine wind farm near Lerwick on Monday.

Sustainable Shetland, which objected to the plans, said it was “bitterly disappointed” by the decision.
Councillors voted six to two in favour of approving the plans with a slew of conditions to mitigate its impacts.
Hay said that “Shetland seems to be sleepwalking into a nightmare of oversize turbines dominating the landscape”…

The proposed 103-turbine Viking Energy wind farm has consent from the Scottish Government, as has Peel Energy’s planned 17-turbine Beaw Field development in Yell.
A larger wind farm in Yell from Energy Isles, which would feature 29 large turbines, is in the early stages of planning…

All of the proposed wind farms need an interconnector cable laid between Shetland and the Scottish mainland to allow the export of energy, which is dependent on Shetland winning government subsidies in the upcoming contracts for difference (CfD) auction.
Hay added that there were “compelling reasons” for rejecting the Mossy Hill application and he claimed the advice given by planning officials to councillors was “flawed”.

“It was very disappointing to see the opinions of local residents being discounted once again in favour of the, so-called, benefits of renewable energy,” he continued.
“There would be nothing ‘green’ about the construction of this. It remains to be seen if this can be economically viable given the long list of conditions that should be adhered to. It will also have to have a winning bid in the CfD auction which cannot be taken for granted.”

They’re kidding? Yell is desolate peat bog, with practically no locals. For all that they have to send the electricity across to the mainland (of Shetland) down the mainland, across to Fair Isle?, then across to Orkney, then to the mainland. It will arive alongside the nuclear plant so they should be able to connect to the cables down to the places the Scots actually live. I’ll bet they need high prices guaranteed.

16 Apr: JournalSentinel: Wisconsin wind turbine project pits brother against brother, clean energy against rural vistas
by Sarah Whites-Koditschek, Special to USA TODAY NETWORK – Wisconsin
(Sarah Whites-Koditschek is a Wisconsin Public Radio Mike Simonson Memorial Investigative Fellow embedded in the newsroom of the Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism. Christa Westerberg provides legal services for the Center and EDF Renewables but was not involved in the reporting or editing of this story. The nonprofit Center…collaborates with Wisconsin Public Radio, Wisconsin Public Television, other news media and the UW-Madison School of Journalism and Mass Communication)

Cindy Blanc and her husband, Peter Minucci, are freelance musicians who moved to 5 acres in the south-central Wisconsin countryside for the scenic views and serenity…
“This is the best place to watch stars ever because there’s no light out here,” she said.
“Now we’ll have … flashing lights.”
Blanc, 57, was referring to a plan for 24 wind turbines, nearly 500 feet tall, including one tower that she said would be 1,500 feet from the couple’s home in the town of Jefferson, a rural farming community of 1,200 people near the Illinois border in Green County…

Blanc learned about plans in October for the wind project when EDF Renewables, the American subsidiary of a French company, sent her a notice in the mail.
EDF’s 65-megawatt Sugar River Wind Project would spread over 5,870 acres…
Wind power currently provides less than 3% of Wisconsin’s electricity, but the Sugar River project reflects a renewed interest among wind developers in the state, according to Renew Wisconsin Policy Director Michael Vickerman…

After receiving the notice, Blanc organized her neighbors to rally against the turbines…
She (Cindy) is worried her property’s value will fall with wind turbines towering above it.
“Who is going to want to buy it living in the shadow of giant, industrial wind?” she asked, raising a question studies have failed to answer.
“We’re working musicians. We have no pension. We have no retirement. So this 5 acres and this janky old farmhouse is, like, it,” Blanc said. “This is what we’ve worked for our entire lives.”…

Trying to limit the wind law
At a Jefferson Town Board meeting in late February, a roomful of more than 70 community members faced three town board members and the town attorney, at times booing and jeering.
The board was considering a possible wind ordinance after months of public pressure…
But the town’s attorney, Daniel Bartholf, advised the board against challenging the law, as did an attorney for EDF. Ultimately, the Jefferson Town Board rejected the proposed ordinance. Board Chairman Harvey Mandel said in an interview that he did not want to approve an ordinance that would invite a lawsuit…

Health problems debated
The World Health Organization has identified sound from wind turbines as a health risk but acknowledged “very little evidence is available about the adverse health effects of continuous exposure to wind turbine noise.” The Wisconsin Department of Health Services says there are no known health effects from wind turbines…
EDF Development Director P.J. Saliterman said in an interview that allegations of negative health effects are a “myth.”
“Too often fear and misinformation … from web-based sources are used to drive wedges in communities in between neighbors,” he said…

A family feud over a wind farm
It came as a surprise to Jim Bauman when his brother and neighbor, Brian Bauman, signed a lease to place a wind turbine and power station on his property in Juda.
That decision has stretched the bonds of an otherwise close family.
Not only is Jim upset, but so is his sister, Linda Kundert, who lives about 10 minutes away. She and her husband, Dan, along with their son, Brent, are dairy farmers who may soon live next to several towering wind turbines.
“We just never thought of this area as an industrial area, and the turbines kind of make it that,” she said.
The Kunderts fear they and their dairy cows will suffer health problems from the turbines. Jennifer Van Os, a University of Wisconsin-Madison assistant professor of dairy science, said she knows of no scientific research published on the effects of wind turbines on cattle.
“I’m tired of waking up with a knot in my stomach going through ranges of emotions,” Dan Kundert said. “Neighbors should not do this to neighbors, and above all, family should not do this to family.”…
EDF offered Jim and Kim Bauman a $1,500-a-year easement for the noise and vibration or other effects of the turbines.
They declined to sign the contract…

Conflicts of interest?
In the town of Jefferson, board member Lyle Samson along with Larry Eakins, a member of the planning commission, recused themselves from participating in the decision over the Sugar River Wind Project because they hold leases with EDF.
Mandel, the Jefferson Town Board chairman, dismissed the suggestion of any unethical practices in the town’s handling of the wind project. He said it was “too bad” that critics have maligned officials holding leases, adding, “They’re good people.”
Samson declined to talk for the story, citing his recusal, and Eakins did not return a request for comment. EDF’s Saliterman said the company does not target local officials for leases…

‘Clean, free wind’
Tim Bender, a truck driver, and his wife, Linda, a stay-at-home mom, were among the few willing to speak at the Jefferson Town Board meeting.
“I just can’t stand to sit back and watch an opportunity pass us by,” Tim Bender said.
The Benders have a “good neighbor” agreement with EDF. They would like to host a turbine, too, but their property is too small.
Tim Bender said his support is not motivated by profit. He favors renewable energy because it is better for the environment than natural gas or coal.
“Why not benefit from clean, free wind?” he asked. “We have maybe three days out of the year when we don’t have wind. Why shouldn’t we benefit from it?”https://www.jsonline.com/story/news/solutions/2019/04/16/wisconsin-wind-turbine-project-pits-clean-energy-against-local-fears/3474944002/

The wind might be clean but the power generated is dirty and unreliable.

It is becoming more obvious that intermittent power generation added to an existing grid would still increase grid power costs even if all the energy was donated to the grid. Having to pay for dirty intermittent power, supplied to an existing grid, prices it well above its negative value. Germany’s neighbours have realied this and they charge Germany to export the dirty power into their networks. Victorian’s would have been paying less for electricity today if SA was charged a fair price to export their dirty power into Victoria.

16 Apr: Calgary Herald: Alberta Election Live Results: ‘Today we begin to fight back’ says Kenney, as UCP forms majority government
by Amanda Stephenson
The United Conservative Party has formed a majority government.
As of 11 p.m., premier-elect Jason Kenney’s party is leading or elected in 63 ridings, with the NDP leading or elected in 24. There are 87 ridings in Alberta, and 44 are needed to form a majority government. Approximately 6,851 polls of 7,337 are reporting.
The UCP also captured a clear majority of the popular vote, 54.8 per cent to the NDP’s 32.1 per cent of votes tallied…

17 Apr: Reuters: Right-wing opposition sweeps to power in Canada’s oil region, sets up fight with Trudeau
by Nia Williams; Additional reporting by David Ljunggren and Steve Scherer in Ottawa
A right-of-center party that champions the energy industry swept to power in Canada’s main oil-producing province of Alberta on Tuesday, setting up a fight with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau over climate change just months ahead of a federal election.

The United Conservative Party (UCP) of Jason Kenney, which had led in the polls for months, crushed the left-leaning New Democratic Party (NDP) government of Rachel Notley amid frustration over the economy and a beleaguered energy industry.
In an often belligerent campaign, Kenney promised to stand up for Albertans against Trudeau and other politicians he said were taking the province and its oil and gas for granted.

Loud cheers broke out in the Big Four Roadhouse, a venue in the iconic Calgary Stampede grounds where UCP members had gathered. Provisional results at 11 pm eastern (0400 GMT Wednesday), an hour after voting ended, showed the UCP had won 62 of the 87 seats in the provincial legislature…

Notley’s government introduced a carbon tax to help cut emissions of greenhouse gases, a measure Kenney promised to scrap…
Both Kenney and Notley blame Trudeau for a lack of progress on new oil export pipelines…
“I am in oil and gas and I cannot live under a socialist system anymore. It’s safe to say I’m not as much voting Kenney in as voting Notley out,” said geologist Ty Pfeifer, 61.
Both parties support new oil pipelines, including the Trans Mountain expansion that will triple the amount of crude reaching the Pacific Coast. They also back measures to prop up Alberta’s energy industry, which struggled last year with record discounts on Canadian crude because of pipeline congestion…

Here is a question to ponder next time you see the LCOE of intermittents being misused.

If all energy generated by intermittent sources was given to the grid for free, would power costs come down?

Some aspects to consider:
1. There would be a very small reduction in fossil fuel powered generating capacity because most of the existing dispatchable capacity is still required. The only reduction would be related to conservation of perched water in the existing hydro system when the intermittents were producing that could be used when the intermittents were not producing.
2. There would still need to be massive additional expenditure in transmission and distribution infrastructure to cope with the increase in installed capacity in generation, remote from existing loads and the existing central generators.
3. There would be an increase in transmission losses due to the variability in flow and the fact that losses are a squared function of current transport. The losses are covered with free generation but it increases the size of the grid as there is a lot more wasted generation.
4. Maintenance and operating costs of the fossil fuel plant would increase because they would cycle more and the fluctuating temperature accelerates deterioration.
5. There are added network costs to provide the required voltage and frequency stability.
6. The rapid swings in demand for the dispatchable generators requires fast response generators that have higher operating cost than existing coal generators.
7. Adding any additional storage to cope with the swings in generation would add significantly to the overall cost.

Rick, I think you need to rephrase your question. Currently for wind, supplying 1.7 GW, (7% of total supplies), we are paying $100/MWhr plus $60-80/MWhr in renewable certificates, so make those zero and power costs would clearly come down.
But I think what you are suggesting is that if a further 1.7 GW of average wind generation was added to the grid for free, would prices come down? It would reduce incremental fuel costs for coal and gas, but not force any shutdowns because 100% reliable capacity must still be available when the wind doesn’t blow. And then as you suggest, there are added costs in network extensions and control systems to cope with this variable supply, as well as rapid response generators for FCAS. So, no such thing as a free lunch. Same argument applies to solar – extra supply at midday does nothing to alleviate the requirement to meet peak evening demand. The only true way to calculate LCOE is to cost each supplier on the basis of 100% dispatchable delivery. So all wind/solar generators must be costed including either 100% gas or storage backup.

Before any intermittents were added the wholesale price of power was $35/MWh. What caused the increase from $35 to $100? Even jf the Intermittent power was provided free and there were no subsidies the price would be closer to $100/MWh than the $35/MWh.

16 Apr: UK Telegraph: European election polls: How the EU’s establishment parties will lose ground as far-Right populism increases
By Ashley Kirk, Senior Data Journalist
The established centre-left and centre-right blocs in the EU Parliament are likely to lose their combined majority in May’s European Elections, according to the latest polling.
Polls indicate that these two large pan-European blocs, which are comprised of a host of allied parties from each EU country, will lose seats under a tide of populist support.

only Ove gets the final CAGW words, no opportunity for Ridd to respond; RIGHTWING thrown about throughout:

AUDIO: 3min1sec: 17 Apr: ABC AM: Controversial marine physicist wins unfair dismissal case over university
By Isobel Roe on AM
A marine physicist who was sacked by his Queensland university for making disparaging comments about his colleagues’ science has won an unfair dismissal case.
James Cook University accused Doctor Peter Ridd of serious misconduct and denigrating other university employees after comments he made to journalists and in private emails.
Peter Ridd lodged an appeal with the backing of a right-wing think tank and won, and now the university is considering an appeal.
Featured:
Dr Peter Ridd, marine geophysicist
Andrew Bonnell, National Tertiary Education Union
Provost Professor Chris Cocklin, James Cook University
Professor Ove Hoegh-Guldberg, Director of the Global Change Institute and University of Queensland marine scientisthttps://www.abc.net.au/radio/programs/am/controversial-marine-physicist-wins-unfair-dismissal-case/11023478

Ridd responded at length to Ove on Bolt but, unfortunately, his response is not included in this short clip:

17 Apr: BusinessGreen: Ban sales of diesel lorries by 2040, National Infrastructure Commission tells ministers
by Madeleine Cuff
Hydrogen and battery electric alternatives should displace diesel lorries, advisors tell government.
The government should ban sales of new diesel lorries by 2040 to reduce the climate impact of freight, the National Infrastructure Commission (NIC) said today.
The NIC said hydrogen and battery electric technology for heavy goods vehicles (HGVs) is already “well advanced” and will be commercially available from the early 2020s.
But it argued a deadline for ending the sale of diesel HGVs would accelerate the shift by providing “the freight industry with the certainty it needs to invest in new, green technologies”…

from Carbon Brief: British Steel sold excess carbon credits before seeking state aid
British Steel could have avoided asking for a £100m government rescue loan over EU carbon permits, reports the Financial Times. The firm could have kept hold of the emissions permits it now needs, but instead chose to sell them “in an ill-judged bet on the EU’s emissions trading scheme”, the paper says. It continues: “By selling its allowances for cash, rather than holding on to them, the manufacturer has been caught out after the price of emissions credits surged over the past two years.” In another article, Financial Times energy editor David Sheppard explores why the EU carbon market is being “roiled by Brexit”, with prices reaching a 10-year high as fears of a no-deal exit recede. A comment in the Financial Times by BNP Paribas’s Mark Lewis says the EU carbon market is “near[ing] mainstream”, with allowances having been the world’s “top-performing commodity over the past two years”…

23 Feb: CarSales.com.au: FAQ: Is diesel about to be banned?
Despite what you might read in the general media, the death of diesel is highly exaggerated. Here’s what the future holds for compression-ignition engines
Last year (2017), 377,423 diesel-powered SUVs, LCVs and passenger vehicles were sold in Australia, according to VFACTS. Sales of diesel vehicles in these three classes accounted for nearly 32 per cent of all new vehicle sales, and that doesn’t include the nearly 37,000 heavy commercials…

17 Apr: news.com.au: AAP: Bob Brown leads anti-Adani convoy to Qld
The convoy of more than 70 cars, many electric, has left Hobart on its two-week campaign journey up Australia’s east coast.
That number is expected to swell to more than 700 and will include prominent musicians Paul Kelly and John Williamson…

Was listening to SHY on the ABC today, she said “some times we get most of our power from renewables” apparently all we need is better CC policy…..she never actually stated what that would cause, perhaps most of our power sometimes or sometimes most power alas we will never know

meanwhile, the silliest bunch of middle class twits/protesters, urged on by their “friends” in the FakeNewsMSM – especially BBC, Guardian, Financial Times, Independent etc – most of whom have reporters embedded with XR and are furiously liveblogging by the second – are making enemies faster than you can say CAGW, while they all pretend the whole world is following their example. even if 10,000 have protested, it is a minor even in London protest terms.

even this critical piece in DM has the usual zillion pics, thereby providing XR with the promotion they crave:

17 Apr: Daily Mail: ‘Just get out there and jail the lot of them: FURY of commuters and businesses’ as eco-warriors cause a third day of chaos in protests that have cost London £12million (and there’s STILL a pink boat in the middle of Oxford Circus)
•Campaigners disrupt Docklands Light Railway services today as part of a series of climate change protests
•Extinction Rebellion protests have been taking place at Parliament Square, Waterloo Bridge & Oxford Circus
•Activists say they will ‘non-violently disrupt Tube services to highlight the emergency of ecological collapse’
•However London Mayor Sadiq Khan says he is ‘extremely concerned’ about plans to disrupt the Underground
By Mark Duell and Ed Riley For Mailonline and Jemma Buckley For The Daily Mail
Commuters and businesses are raging at the major disruption to at least 500,000 people as a boat continues to block Oxford Circus, activists dance on Waterloo Bridge and rows of tents cover key routes through the capital.

Extinction Rebellion protesters glued their hands to DLR carriages at Canary Wharf as they boasted of holding their four key strongholds, but police switched off the Tube’s public wifi to stop them co-ordinating protests…

And local businesses have accused police of being too slow to move on the activists who have brought traffic to a standstill with human barricades, but Scotland Yard insists it is trying to maintain a ‘proportionate’ response.
Jay Patel, 26, the manager of Marble Arch News on Edgware Road, said: ‘It’s completely ridiculous, we are losing so much money. There’s no one here. The police need to do something soon as it’s crippling our business.’…

Sefan White, 24, who works for a company that produces bar snacks in sustainable packaging, was stopped getting to work by the protesters.
He said: ‘I work for company that makes a bar snacks in 100 per cent recycled packaging – the first in the UK. I’m devastated. I’m trying to get to a job now. We’ve got to go round Camden on a 30-pub journey and we’re going to be late now.
‘We’re probably going to lose money today. They’ve had their picture, fair enough, that’s all you need now. Why is he spending 15 minutes on top of the tube? Explain that.’…

Extinction Rebellion said it was ‘really disappointed’ in the Metropolitan Police for its response to protests…
Meanwhile one of the organisers, Robin Boardman, stormed out of a live Sky News interview with host Adam Boulton today after the presenter labelled the protesters ‘incompetent, middle class, self-indulgent people’…
Protester and climate lawyer Farhana Yamin, who was arrested yesterday, told BBC Radio 4′s Today programme: ‘I totally want to apologise to people using public transport. But at the same time we need to take actions that are disruptive so everyone understands the dangers we’re facing right now.”…
Brian Sweeney, 42, said: ‘They’ve left rubbish everywhere – the mess they’ve made and they are meant to be looking after the environment”…

The activists behind the chaos caused by climate change protests this week come from all walks of life – including a failed organic farmer and a baronet’s daughter…
Also leading the ‘XR’ group is Gail Bradbrook, a ‘neo-pagan’ who became an activist as a direct result of taking huge doses of two powerful psychedelic drugs…
Others involved include Tasmin Osmond, who is the granddaughter of baronet Sir Thomas Lees, veteran campaigner Roger Hallam, and ex-UN worker Laura Reeves…
King’s post-graduate student George Barda and Stuart Basden, who says prison is like ‘boarding school’, are also involved in the demonstration of up to 10,000 people…
Another of the founders of Extinction Rebellion is Roger Hallam, 52, a veteran demonstrator who is researching a PhD in effective radical campaigning…

“Protester and climate lawyer Farhana Yamin, who was arrested yesterday, told BBC Radio 4′s Today programme: ‘I totally want to apologise to people using public transport. But at the same time we need to take actions that are disruptive so everyone understands the dangers we’re facing right now.”… our opinion which we want to force down your throats.”

I love Macron blurting out that Notre Dame will be restored in 5 years. Just a few days after the fire and they cant have any idea of the real extent of the damage, the work to protect the remaining structure, the work to clean it out and the finally the extent of work and availability of skills required to rebuild such a structure. I would be surprised if they had a detailed, implemenatble plan for restoration within a year.

Just another Pollie blurting out BS. I wonder how long his EV takes to charge? I guess his people take care of that.

Has anyone seen this item attributed to NSA?
David Graham (@Logisticsau)
17/4/19, 6:56 pm
Anthroprogenic Global Warming bites the dust
- 1.5c drop in world temp on its way
NASA finally confirms “All weather on Earth, from the surface of the planet out into space, begins with the Sun.
Cold weather to grip WORLD NASA says
| Science | News express.co.uk/news/science/1…